OCR Text

The Lethbridge Herald (Newspaper) - January 9, 1974, Lethbridge, Alberta
Colonel Gaddafi's rebel fund aimed at peace talks The Times of LoMhw LONDON Colonel Gaddafi of Libya has formed his own groups of Palestinian terrorists, according to reliable sources in Kuwait. It is un- derstood that members of one group were recently expelled from Britain. Military and diplomatic sources in Brussels state that the Libyan leader is involved in the financing of many terrorist organizations in different countries. They include the IRA which is getting military aid, and possibly training, to the tune of pounds. There is neither consistency nor a discernible pattern behind Gaddafi's generosity. Possible motives are his ambition to establish himself as Nasser's successor in the leadership of the Arab world, and pique at being left out of Egyptian and Syrian plans to attack Israel in October, and out of the ceasefire talks. But above all, the head of the Revolutionary Command Council is determined to wreck the Geneva peace talks between Israel and Egypt, and keep the war going "if necessary for a thou- sand years." Apart from helping the IRA, Gaddafi's regime has allocated pounds to Black September, the clandestine wing of Fatah, and pounds to other Arab terrorist groups. Libyan aid has also gone to the anti-Ethiopian Eritrean Libera- tion Front pounds) and to opposition groups in Syria Morocco (2 Tunisia (1 Thailand The Philippines and Panama At least two of the governments against which Colonel Gaddafi is financing opposition groups are themselves in receipt of Libyan assistance: Somalia and Syria. More surprising still, possibly, is the authen- ticated report that a good half of the Arab oil "leaked" to the United States since the partial embargo has come from Libya. Again, pique against "brother" Arabs is one explanation of thu oddity, but another is the ab- solute need for Gadafi to keep his oil revenues high so he can continue to finance terrorism. The massacre at Rome Airport in mid- December, according to the sources in Brussels, was organized by a group financed by Gaddafi who in a speech on Oct. 7, 1972, praised the Japanese terrorists for the massacre at Lod Air- port earlier in the year. In another speech last April, he denounced the established Palestinian groups, as not militant enough. v He then invited renegades from one of the most extreme groups, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, to go to Libya, where he put them into training camps under his personal direction. (It was the PFLP that claimed the "credit" for the attempted murder of J. Edward Sieff Dec. 30.) This new, Libyan-financed group, known as the "National youth for the Liberation of though originally a breakaway fac- tion of the PFLP, is now it appears a Libyan branch of Black September. (Apart from Gad- dafi himself, the Revolutionary Command Coun- cil members directly involved are Maj. Muham- mad Najim; the security chief, Maj. Almunin Huni, and Maj. Becair Hawwadi, director of the Libyan Arab Socialist Union, the country's only political organization. 1 A special committee to support terrorism was set up, consisting of Maj. Awad Hamsa, Maj. Abubakr lunis and Maj. Abdullah Meheishy, with Ahmad Al Gaffur as chairman. Gaffur carries a The LetUbridge Herald Lebanese passport and travels frequently to plan and co-ordinate the group's terrorist actions. He is also known as "Abu Mahmud" and "Salam Ahmad Tajuri." Shortly after its formation on April 9, the group launched its first operation the attack on an Israel airliner and on the Israel am- bassador's residence in Nicosia. One of the at- tackers was killed. Seven were arrested, but were later released by the Cypriot authorities. The same group was responsible for killing four people and wounding 55 at Athens Inter- national Airport on Aug. 5. Five members were arrested a month later by Italian police, who found two Sovietmade portable antiaircraft mis- siles in a flat near Rome's Leonardo Da Vinci Airport. They were intended for an attack on an Israel airliner. VOL. LXVII 23 LETHBRIDQE, ALBERTA, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 1974 40 Pages 10 Cents Nixon agrees milk increase aided voting SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. (Reuter) President Nixon has acknowledged he approv- ed an increase in milk-price supports to dairymen in 1971 partly because if he had not done so it might have cost him farm-state votes in the 1972 presidential election. Nixon also knew when he approved the increase that dairymen had pledged to raise funds for his 1972 re-election drive But Nixon maintained in a statement Tuesday that he acted properly, and that the Kaiser strike settled SPARWOOD (Staff) Agreement on a two-year contract was reached early to- day between union negotiators and Kaiser Resources Ltd. The contract agreement, reached at a.m., is sub- ject to approval by the United Mine Workers striking members No date has been set for a vote by the union's general membership but a company official said he ex- pects it "very shortly." The workers will remain off work in the meantime Negotiations between the union and Kaiser have been continuing "almost around the clock" since the strike began Tuesday. Details of the contract were not announced. The union, withbut a contract since Dec. 31, was asking for a basic f 1.25 an hour increase on a one-year contract. The union was also asking for an extra 50 cents danger pay for underground miners and various changes in the vacation schedule. The strike has shut down operations at the open pit mine here, the Elkview coal preparation plant, un- derground mining operations and operations at the byproducts plant at Michel. increase in milk-price sup- ports benefited the entire country. Nixon said that he was in- fluenced by "traditional political and the fact that the Democratic- controlled Congress would have raised milk-price sup- ports in any event. The white paper said Nixon "concluded that the final deci- sion came down to the fact that the Congress was going to pass the higher-support legislation, and he could not veto it without alienating the essential part of his political constituency." The president released the statement as part of his so- called Operation Can- an effort to clear up lingering controversies from the 1972 presidential election campaign. In a separate statement, Nixon rejected as "totally without foundation" allegations that he agreed to an out-of-court settlement of a monopolies suit against the International Telephone and Telegraph Corp. (ITT) in ex- change for a promise of a political contribution by ITT. The two statements were released by the president as he considered his next move in the biggest scandal of the 1972 Watergate break-in and allegations that there was a high-level effort to hush up White House in- volvement in it. The statement on Nixon's relations with milk producers said they contributed to his re-election campaign, and stressed that this sum represented less than one per cent of Nixon campaign funds in 1972. It said the president had been informed of dairymen's intentions to raise funds for him before he met them in March, 1971, to discuss their case for an increase in milk- price supports. But it said Nixon at no time discussed campaign contribu- tions with dairymen and the subject did not come up at the March, 1971, meeting. Chilly chore Winnipeg letter carrier Jack Wen ham has to keep well-bundled up these days with temperatures in that city staying well below the zero mark. Southern Albertans, might keep that in mind as well as the extremely cold temperatures of the past few days will be with us a while longer. To drive that point home more forcefully, wheather warnings has been issued for tonight for the Lethbridge- Calgary region. Strong northerly winds gusting to 30-35 m.p.h. will produce blowing snow and reduce visibility considerably in temperatures ranging from 10 below to zero. That condition is expected to begin in the late evening and last for three to four hours. Further dislocation facing dark Britain LONDON (AP) Prime Minister Edward Heath told Parliament today that power- starved Britain, already on a Chinese berate Soviet oppression By DAVID BONAVIA The Times of London PEKING China berated the Soviet Union Tuesday for its use of secret police, labor camps, mental asylums and armed oppression against her own people. Deling with this subject in detail for the first time, the official Chinese news agency, in an article broadcast nationwide by the radio this morning, portrayed the Soviet Union as being in a state of turmoil through popular resistance to the "Brezhnev clique." The article listed a series of legislative measures taken by the Soviet government to strengthen its control of political dissenters and said that more than one million people were confined in labor camps. It also attacked the use of mental asylums. and mind- destroying drugs on dis- sidents. "The Soviet renegade clique has also often used police un- its, tanks, armored cars and even paratroops to carry out bloody repressions against the mass resistance of the Soviet people." The Chinese statement listed numerous strikes, demonstrations and protests by Soviet workers and national minorities as well as intellectuals and students in recent years. It mentioned Lithuania, Latvia, The Ukraine and Central Asia among places where non- Russian peoples have express- ed their dissatisfaction with the present regime. It also noted that there had been opposition inside the Soviet Union to the invasion of Czechoslovakia and support for the riots in Poland in 1970. The new Chinese stand on this issue, which represents a fresh departure in the ideological war with Moscow, may be partly a response to Soviet allegations that there is mass opposition to the present leadership in China. It may also signify recogni- tion of the fact that this is one matter over which world opi- nion is generally hostile to the Soviet Union. However, the article did not mention the Jewish emigra- tion movement, since China is opposed in principle to the emigration of Soviet Jews to Israel. It concentrated more on unrest among Soviet workers and minorities than among the intellectuals. three-day week, faces still further dislocation unless more energy is saved. As he spoke, industrial lead- ers estimated that three million people are out of work on any one day because of the power crisis. Heath said the government- ordered short work week has cut electricity consumption by 21 per cent. But if Britain is to survive the winter "without further major dislocations, we need to consolidate that achievement and do rather he told the House of Commons at the start of a two-day debate on the crisis. The government ordered all but "essential" industries on to a three-day week 10 days ago in the face of a pay dis- pute by mineworkers which has cut coal output by nearly 40 per cent. Coal provides 70 per cent of the country's electricity. "The measures we have taken were forced on us by the facts of coal Heath declared. "We have not acted out of choice. We have acted out of necessity." The employment depart- ment said workers applied Wednesday for un- employment pay because of the three-day week, more than Tuesday. However the confederation Oil price same until April 1 of British Industry, the national employer's organization, estimated that about three million workers, more than 10 per cent of the country's 25 million work- force, are out of work on any one day because of the govern- ment measures. BAN LIFTS BONN (Reuter) The West German cabinet today confirmed Chancellor. Willy Brandt's decision to lift the ban on weekend driving, government sources said. Conference SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. (AP) President Nixon has invited the foreign ministers of six major oil-consuming Western Europeati countries plus Japan and Canada to at- tend a Feb. 11 Washington meeting on global energy problems, the White House announced today. Nixon extended the in- 'vitations in personal messages to the heads of government of France, Ger- many, Britain, Italy, the Netherlands and Norway as well as Japan and Canada. GENEVA (Reuter) There will be no change in oil prices before April 1, the world's oilproducing states decided today. Ministers of the 12-member Organization of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC) decided to wait for a report from their economic commission before making a decision on prices. The. commission's report is to be presented by April 1, Ira- nian Finance Minister Jamshid Amouzegar told reporters after a final five- hour conference session. Amouzegar said the ministers decided to abandon the current relationship between market and posted prices of crude oil as no longer workable. Oil prices will be frozen un- til April, While the OPEC eco- nomic commission studies de- tails of a long-term pricing policy. The ministers also agree to leave'the door open for an ex- change .of views with oil-con- suming states on oil prices, and to prepare a plan to create a financial institution aimed at helping the economies of developing countries. Venezuelan Hydrocarbons Minister Hugo Perez, la Salvia told reporters as he left the meeting that the ministers would wait for the economic commission's report "to see what is going to be the trend of prices in the near future." Generals talk again Tuesday THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Israeli and Egyptian generals met for 70 minutes today in Geneva, but the Israeli government said earlier that it has not com- pleted its proposal for dis- engagement of the opposing armies along the Suez front. The meeting between Maj.- Gen. Mordechai Gur of Israel and Brig.-Gen. Taha el-Mag- doob of Egypt was the shortest of the six they have held so far. A United Nations announcement said they decided to meet again next Tuesday afternoon. Official sources in Jerusalem said the two generals had been expected to start bargaining today on details of withdrawing forces from the Suez canal front. But an Israeli foreign minis- try spokesman said Tuesday: "No decisions have as yet been taken regarding the next phase of the issues discussed by Defence Minister Moshe Dayan during his visit to Washington." Asked what would happen to prices in the meantime, he said OPEC believed the in- dustrialized consumer countries should take care of inflation and of other factors affecting the prices which oil companies charged con- sumers. "Then we will be ready to consider what we-need to he added. The conference was originally expected to end about midday but dragged on until nearly 3 p.m. Asked the reason for the de- lay, Perez said: "We had to decide very important and complicated matters and this required time." The Geneva talks followed production cuts by Arab mem- bers of OPEC after the Oc- tober Middle East war, and a recent increase in posted prices of crude oil by every OPEC state except Algeria. BELGIANS REPORT MISSILES sTblEN BRUSSELS (AP) Several small ground-to-air missiles have been stolen in recent weeks from European military depots, Belgian government sources said today. The sources said the disappearance of the missiles resulted in the general alert that went into effect at European airports several days ago to counter possible terrorist attacks. The sources indicated that some of the missiles have been recovered. There have been recent reports that Soviet-built SAM-7 rockets were shipped secretly through Belgium and northern France. The SAMs, which can be fired from the shoulder at fly- ing or grounded planes, are equipped with a guidance system which brings them onto target. Herald, USC say thank you Just a few weeks ago The Herald promised that its readers would contribute 000 to buy skim milk powder for Bangladesh children. This was more than had ever been raised before for such USC projects, but we knew our people. We knew their capacity to respond to such worthy appeals. The total received is now nearly What a happy surprise! What a gift for so many undernourished children who have probably never heard of Canada except through getting this milk! What a merry Christmas for those who gave so generously. In the daily articles during the campaign, D'Arcy Rickard of our staff dramatically demonstrated the depth of the need and the generosity of our readers. On behalf of The Herald, thanks should be expressed just once more for the way in which our readers vindicated our faith in them. When the total received was around the following letter was written by Dr. Lotta Hitschmanova, ex- ecutive director of the USC of Canada. "I am eager to express my warmest gratitude to the readers of your Lethbridge Herald for their magnificent response to the Unitarian Ser- vice Committee of Canada appeal on behalf of the children of Bangladesh. The campaign has never before achieved such a high total. "To those who are constant- ly undernourished, a daily ra- tion of milk means the difference between normal life activity and a miserable dragging out of existence. The funds raised by The Lethbridge Herald campaign will truly be a gift of life to thousands of little ones at our USC milk distribution centres in Bangladesh. I thank each and every contributor from the bottom of my heart." What must she feel now that money for an additional 000 cupfuls of milk has been donated? Cleo W. Publisher and About town Galbraith sctfool principal Jim Clark afraid to get sick at school lest eight female teachers who are studying first aid deckle to test their nursing skills Secretary Vtcte Lilly thinking her wear- ing bine jeans might be the answer to her chair's habit of raining her stockings. Inside 4to It ht 's not thtft try...' Classified 28-31 Comics 18 Comment 4 District 15 Family 33-36 Local News Markets 24 Sports 21-23 Theatres 7 TV 6 Weather 3 LOW TONIGHT HIGH TOURS. I; SUNNY, COLD
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